CLPA – the CC-Link Partner Association – has announced an addition to its CC-Link IE protocol that will allow device vendors to add CC-Link IE compatibility to any product with a 100Mbit Ethernet port. The new version, known as CC-Link IE Field Network Basic – or “Basic Mode” – can be implemented on devices or master controllers using software alone, allowing it to be added to existing products without making any hardware modifications. CLPA says that this will reduce the cost of development and time-to-market “significantly”.

Ritttal used the recent SPS IPC Drives exhibition to preview its vision of the future where enclosures will have built-in cooling systems, avoiding the need to assemble cooling systems on enclosure roofs or side panels. It showed two prototypes: one with the cooling system at the top; the other at the side.

A new US company, spun off from GE’s Global Research Center, claims to have re-invented the electronic switch, with a device that can handle kilowatts of power, yet offers the size, speed, cost, and reliability attractions of solid-state devices.

Rockwell Automation has released a free app for mobile devices such as smartphones that will allow engineering teams to collaborate and share knowledge, view live production statistics, interact with machine alarms and troubleshoot machines. Rockwell estimates that each team member using the FactoryTalk TeamOne app could save 1% of their workday, or 33 seconds per shift – equivalent to an annual saving of more than $1.4m for a manufacturer with about 2,000 production staff.

More than ten leading automation suppliers have joined forces to back OPC UA over Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) as a unifying communication system for use between industrial controllers and to the cloud. The companies – which include ABB, Bosch Rexroth, B&R, Cisco, General Electric, Kuka, National Instruments (NI), Parker Hannifin, Schneider Electric, SEW-Eurodrive and TTTech – intend to support OPC UA TSN in their future products.

The Californian industrial automation manufacturer Opto 22 has developed a digital I/O board for the low-cost Raspberry Pi computer that will allow the Pi to monitor, control, and automate devices that were previously beyond the capabilities of its built-in 3.3V DC GPIO sensing and control connector. The new Digital I/O Carrier Board can be used to sense or switch up to 16 electrical loads up to 3A, 2.5–280V AC/DC, allowing it to monitor and control electrical loads such as motors, pumps, and sensors.

The US motion engineer Intellidrives has developed a large-area X-Y gantry in which one of the axes can be rotated through more than 20 degrees. This novel approach to kinematics allows large relative motions of independent (X1 and X2) parallel axes to control orthogonality in the X-Y plane, or to introduce large theta rotation of the Y-axis about the X1 and X2 axes, as well as rotating the Y-axis around a virtual programmable point.

A UK consortium has embarked on a three-year research programme to explore the potential for converting low-temperature waste heat into useful electrical power. The project, led by steam engineering specialist Spirax Sarco, has received a £1.24m grant from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Mitsubishi Electric has developed a technology that allows maintenance technicians wearing 3D augmented reality (AR) glasses to confirm the order of an inspection and then enter the results by voice. It says that the technology will cut workloads and help to avoid entry errors because information can be entered reliably, even in noisy environments.

Omron Adept Technologies has developed a free-roaming mobile robot with on-board artificial intelligence (AI) that allows it to transport materials weighing up to 130kg to a target location, calculating the optimal route and avoiding humans and obstacles en route. The Mobile Robot LD Platform is aimed at industrial applications such as transporting car parts, electronics, foods and pharmaceuticals. It is also suitable for use in warehouses and research facilities.

Researchers in the US have created a high-voltage, high-frequency silicon carbide (SiC) power switch that could cost about half as much as conventional HV SiC power switches. They say that their device could help to cuts the costs and boost the performance of applications such as medium-voltage drives, solid-state transformers, HV transmission systems and circuit-breakers.

A consortium of American researchers has won a $3.8m grant from the US Department of Energy to develop better materials for electric motors, especially for use in transport applications. The project – which includes researchers from Iowa State University, the DOE’s Ames Laboratory, the University of Delaware, and the United Technologies Research Center – is part of a $59.2m federal programme comprising 35 research projects aimed at cutting the costs and improving the efficiencies of electric, alternative-fuel and conventional vehicles.

A Canadian company called NanoXplore, which specialises in the production and application of graphene and derived materials, has joined forces with Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to support the commercialisation of lighter, more reliable and higher-efficiency components for electric motors using graphene-enhanced engineering plastics instead of metals. The value of the project – which is targeting transport applications, in particular – is $10.4m.

The Russian cyber-security specialist, Kaspersky Lab, is reported to have developed a dedicated operating system for industrial control systems, which will be more resistant to hacking attempts than general-purpose operating systems. It has taken four years for the company to develop the new OS – called KasperskyOS – “from the ground up”.